“Philadelphia, Monday. I forget what I have written, and I don’t know if I have explained that we were allowed no witnesses, either at the Magistrate’s or the Judge’s Court, and with our hastily instructed lawyers we should not have been able to make even any defence through them but for the miraculous appearance of John Quinn. And this is the fifth day we have been under bail on charge of indecency, and its like.”
“January 22d, Hotel Algonquin, New York. Contrary to my directions Liebler’s man had put on The Playboy for Pittsburg. It was asked for by some ladies who are taking the whole house for a charity performance. Now they have written to ask for another bill instead, Hyacinth, Riders, Workhouse; and the papers say that The Playboy has been taken off on religious grounds.”
“Richmond, Indiana, January 24th. The journey to Pittsburg is a quite lovely journey, like Switzerland but less monotonous; the sunshine and snow exhilarating. The plays had begun when I arrived. There was a very good audience and Hyacinth and Workhouse Ward made them laugh a great deal. Carnegie Hall is all gilding and marbles, and a gilded organ towers above the butcher’s shop in Hyacinth. I had to make a little speech and was able to tell of the telegram from Philadelphia, saying the Judge had dismissed the case. We came on here through the night.
“An interviewer who came this morning has sent me an interesting book on Indiana book plates, and an old lady brought me an Irish Bible, and the jeweller who packed my watch would take nothing, and Miss Allgood has sent me a box of roses. So the stars must be in a good mood. I think we ought to start with The Playboy in Chicago and get that over. It would show we are not damped by Philadelphia.”
We went on that night to Indianapolis. The Playboy had been specially asked for in Indianapolis. Protests against its production were made to the manager of the theatre by the Ancient Order of Hibernians and others, but the manager said he was powerless. They also called upon Superintendent of Police Hyland, who said: “I will have plenty of men at the theatre to quell a disturbance. I don’t believe, however, that there will be any trouble. If there are persons who do not like the show, they can stay away. But there is one thing certain; if they do not stay away and come to the show to make trouble, they will find plenty of it on hand.”
The Mayor was also appealed to, but he did not see his way to stop the play. The Irish Societies then decided to stay away, and though the theatre was packed, the play went through in perfect peace.
“Chicago, Hotel La Salle, January 26th. Tyler wired me to come on here, so I left the Company at Indianapolis this morning and came on. We don’t begin playing here till the 5th. No theatre is ready. Gaston Mayer was very urgent we should stay another week on account of getting here so late. I told the Company of this and they decided to stay. We shall therefore finish here March 2d and sail on the 6th. We had no trouble at Indianapolis last night. The police authorities were very firm and the threats collapsed. I wish Philadelphia had been as firm. They are all afraid of the politicians....
“I was sorry to leave the Company. I feel like Wilhelm Meister going through ever-fresh adventures with the little troop. As to the rows, I don’t think there is anything you (Yeats) could have done, except that you would have done things yourself while others have done them for me. The Company insist on giving John Quinn a silver cup, in gratitude for his help. I haven’t seen Flynn for a fortnight. He is astray among the one-night towns and talked to us at Indianapolis through the telephone, with a bad cold.”
“25th or 26th. I see by the papers that at the La Salle Hotel, where I am staying, a meeting of Irishmen has been held at which an ‘Anti-Irish Players’ League’ was formed, beginning with a membership of three hundred. Such a pity I couldn’t have slipped in to the meeting! A petition had also been written and was being sent out for signature, demanding the suppression of The Playboy. This petition was said to have been signed by eight thousand persons, and twenty thousand signatures were expected. Meanwhile the Anti-Cruelty Society of Chicago, at the head of which are various benevolent ladies, had asked leave to buy up the whole house for the first performance of The Playboy of the Western World. They meant to resell these seats at an increased price for their charity and believed it was likely to draw the largest audience. So they have taken the theatre for Tuesday, February 6, and the public performance of The Playboy will take place the next day.”
“January 29th. My typewriter is mended at last, and I am getting settled. Last night one of the boy interviewers—they are all boys here—came in from one of the papers. He showed me two statements written by Liebler’s manager here, one colourless, the other offering a reward of five thousand dollars to anyone who could prove the management had bribed rioters for the first night, as has been stated in the papers. I advised that this be put in, as people really seem to believe it is true. This young man had been to see many of the objectors. They said Synge was a ‘degenerate,’ who had lived abroad to collect a bad atmosphere, which he put round Irish characters afterwards. A nice young interviewer; he wants to write a play around his mother’s life, to show what a mother’s devotion can be. Another of them is twenty-five and is going to be married next summer. He showed me his fiancée’s portrait, and another went and hunted for a Don Quixote I wanted, to distract my mind from present-day things.